DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[LMich]

Some development update photos from Flickr member john in the d:

Eastern Market - Shed 3 Renovation



Eastern Market - Shed 2 Renovation



Port Authority Terminal - Hart Plaza





Sugar Hill District Renovation & Construction - Midtown



Garden Block - Midtown







Dequindre Cut Biking & Pedestrian Trail

[hudkina]

It's amazing to finally see the port authority terminal under construction! Also, the Garden Block is going to be amazing. That little stretch was one of the few areas along Woodward between Mack and I-94 that really looked terrible. I can't wait to see a completely revitalized Lower Woodward corridor complete with a streetcar/light rail line!

[detmsp]

isn't the garden block the development funded by govt that doesn't even have tenants lined up?

[hudkina]

Not sure what you're referring to...

I believe the plan is to have a theater and restaurant in the two historic book ends, and office/retail in the new building. I can't remember if there will be housing on the upper levels or not.

[detmsp]

i could be thinking of something else, but i thought this development was being built with plans for a restaurant, office space, etc, etc but no one had actually signed on to open a restaurant or lease any office space... it was the whole "once we build it, i'm sure we'll find a tenant" idea.

i could be wrong though

[hudkina]

I'm sure they have prospective tenants lined up...

[philadelphiathrives]

I thought Detroiters would find this article interesting and ameliorating:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/25/smal...ion=2009082512




BTW, hudkina, I saw one of your videos on youtube. I like how you put that racist in his place. White supremacists like him know all about destroying cities and violent crimes!

[LMich]

Some news...

IT firm to bring 1,000 jobs to Ann Arbor area

By JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Sept. 23, 2009

A California company, Systems In Motion, plans to create an estimated 1,085 jobs in the Ann Arbor area during the next five years with the help of tax incentives approved today by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority.

The Silicon Valley-based IT services firm is to open its center in Pittsfield Township, south of Ann Arbor. The company will create a software-development training program to train recent graduates and mid-career workers new to IT work, with most jobs paying in the $30,000 to $80,000 range, the company’s chief executive, Neeraj Gupta, said in a phone interview.

The service center will provide customers with help-desk support, software testing, IT operations, business analysis, software architecture and engineering, and project and program management.

The company will serve clients who are outsourcing their IT work, which often goes to China or India. The business model calls for Systems In Motion to provide a low-cost U.S. location at a price similar to those of offshore vendors.

“We’re delighted to be able to join with state, county and local agencies, as well as education institutions in Michigan, to build a true public-private partnership,” Gupta said. “Systems In Motion’s Ann Arbor facilities will drive technology leadership for global enterprises, while providing an important job-creation engine for the local community.”

The company plans to locate in the Valley Ranch Business Park off State Street south of I-94 near Ann Arbor. Gupta said he was finalizing a lease for the space.

Gupta said that the project is to start within about 30 days with 10 staffers and quickly grow as students go through the “boot camp” IT training.

Core customers will be firms in high-cost cities such as New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles that want to outsource their IT services work.

“The core operating model is to build a centralized operation and have small teams of people at customer locations,” Gupta said. “Rather than building a factory 10,000 miles away, you have it in your back yard.”

Systems In Motion was approved today for state tax credits by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority board and will also receive support from Ann Arbor SPARK, the Michigan Economic Development Corp., Washtenaw County Employment Training and Community Services (ETCS-Michigan Works!), the Michigan Department of Information Technology and Eastern Michigan University (EMU).

“A collaboration among state and regional partners to provide Systems In Motion with the training resources, tax incentives and other business-critical support helped the company choose Michigan over competing sites,” said Ken Theis, director of the Michigan Department of Information Technology.

The company was considering Texas and Ohio for its new service center location before choosing the Ann Arbor area.

“Educational and skills-development resources were important factors in Systems In Motion’s decision to choose the Ann Arbor region for its new service center,” said Trenda Rusher, director of ETCS-Michigan Works!

Contact JOHN GALLAGHER: 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com

And...

Standing alone, Hummer to land in SE Michigan

By TIM HIGGINS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Sept. 23, 2009

Hummer, as part of a Chinese company, plans to invest up to $9.4 million in a new headquarters located either in Detroit or Auburn Hills, state records showed Tuesday.


The Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved $20.6 million in state tax credits Tuesday for Hummer LLC’s project, beating out sites in Tennessee and South Carolina.

General Motors is working to sell the Hummer division to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., as part of its restructuring plan.

The tax credits are contingent upon the closing of the Hummer sale.

“GM and Tengzhong are making good progress on the negotiations for the definitive agreement,” Hummer spokesman Nick Richards said.

He declined to say where the facility might be located. A final decision is expected by Oct. 31, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

The headquarters is expected to house staff working on design, engineering finance, purchasing, sales, service and marketing.

The project is expected to create 300 direct jobs and about 640 indirect jobs. The average weekly wage of the Hummer jobs is expected to be $2,605, state records said.

Detroit and Auburn Hills officials have indicated that they would provide property tax abatement, according to the MEDC.

[LMich]

The Cobo renovations are finally occurring under the new authority, and the expansion is still on schedule:

Cobo fixes start in time for auto show

Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News

October 2, 2009

Detroit --Some renovations are under way at Cobo Center in preparation for the North American International Auto Show in January, as state funds have been freed up to repair the aging facility.

Doug Fox, chairman of the 2010 show, said Thursday the regional authority that oversees the facility has received $9.4 million from the state, $3 million of which will be used for immediate repairs in time for the show.

Fox said "naysayers" doubted Cobo would get the improvements but progress is being made and quickly.

"Had we not had the will of the Legislature, the governor, the mayor, both (Dave) Bing and (City Council President Kenneth) Cockrel, too, this would have never happened," Fox said. "Yeah, times are tough but we've got to do this and help keep this show in Detroit."

Jamaine Dickens, a spokesman for the authority, said workers are repairing leaky roofs, upgrading electrical sources in the ceiling and improving waste and plumbing systems. Loading docks also will be upgraded to include a covered area to increase safety and efficiency during the wintertime show.

Fox said the improvements -- and more extensive ones that are months away -- will help Detroit keep the show that annually pumps some $500 million into the economy.

The five-member authority, comprised of representatives of Detroit, Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and the state, took control of the center last month.

Most of the money for a planned $288 million expansion comes from bonds that haven't yet been issued, Dickens said.

Work on the 166,000 square-foot expansion will proceed after the show in hopes of completing it in time for the 2011 event, authority officials have said.

The improvements had been in doubt for much of the year after the Detroit City Council balked in February at plans to transfer the aging facility. But members in July opted not to vote on a resolution to shoot down the state plan, clearing the way for the expansion.

lfleming@detnews.com (313) 222-2072

And, the Uniroyal site redevelopment is still inching forward, which was shocking even years ago, but particularly now with the market the way it is. If they offer a creative an interesting project, though, it doesn't sound ridiculously ambitious:

Uniroyal site redevelopment makes progress

BY JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

October 2, 2009

Redevelopment of the Uniroyal site, one of Detroit's longest delayed projects, appears to be inching forward.

On Thursday, the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority authorized the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. staff to hire legal counsel to negotiate a final agreement with corporations believed responsible for paying for an environmental cleanup of the site.

A cleanup will prepare the 40-acre site, just west of the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle, for an ambitious residential and retail development known as Bellview. First announced several years ago, the project is a partnership of former football star Jerome Bettis and Pittsburgh developer Chuck Betters. It would create more than 1,500 residential units on the site.

Of the several corporations that the State of Michigan believes are responsible for paying for a cleanup, one company, Michelin North America Inc., the successor to the old Uniroyal tire company, has balked at participating, creating the need for the new legal services contract.

The contract approved Thursday would pay the Detroit law firm Williams Acosta to conduct negotiations with the corporations.

Contact JOHN GALLAGHER: 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com

[LMich]

I'd totally forgotten about this project, and it's on a behemoth of a site in Warren. I'd also forgotten they were constructing a mid-rise office building, on site. Someone get some pics when they can:

New life for Warren and its Arsenal

1,800 jobs could be a big boost for beleaguered city

BY TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF

January 18, 2010

A new building going up? It's not a common sight these days in southeastern Michigan.

But the work being done off Mound Road near I-696 on the grounds of the Detroit Arsenal in Warren represents more than just new construction. It means as many as 1,800 jobs by September 2011, most of them expected to be new hires making about $60,000 a year on average.

...

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said it's a godsend in his city, where unemployment is more than 20%. The influx of money and hiring should help the local housing market and have spin-off benefits for stores, restaurants and services.

...

The House and Senate approved nearly $30 million more for projects at the arsenal, which houses the Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) as well as its Tank and Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and employs about 6,300 people.

...

Every bit helps with Michigan still trying to come back from its economic downturn.
From Mound Road, the Detroit Arsenal's skyline already is changing -- with the first phase of an eight-story, 230,000-square-foot administrative building under way. But that building, with space enough for 1,100 TACOM personnel, is only part of the project. About $69 million will be spent on the administrative building, a new parking garage, plus another small office space and a fourth building that's being refurbished.

Another $8.3 million -- included in this latest military construction budget -- will go toward a new weapons system support and training facility.

...

Jeeze; that 20%+ unemployment number for Warren surprised me.

[LMich]

Y mas news on the potential Book Tower reconstruction:

Green renovation for Detroit's Book Tower, Building coming soon

Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

January 20. 2010

Detroit --An investment group that plans to redevelop the vacant Book Tower and Building into "green" and affordable apartments, offices and stores says it will unveil its complete plan -- including carefully shrouded financing -- in "two to three weeks."

Despite skepticism from at least one major downtown redeveloper, RoseMarie Dobek, CFO of Key Investment Group Inc., says the multi-million dollar project is on track. It will include a new life not only for the Book complex, she says, but for four other downtown buildings and one on the city's east side.

Detroit City Councilman Kenneth Cockrel Jr. and the Green Initiative Task Force played a major role in helping Key Investment Group, according to both sides. And the potential deal still is going forward, said Rick Bowers, an aide to Cockrel.

...

The Book will house 260 rental residences, and three floors of retail and office space. The entire project will be built with strict attention to sustainability: green or reflective roofs, and geothermal heating and cooling, in collaboration with DTE Energy. The goal is to achieve a LEED Gold designation. LEED is a voluntary, green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council for constructing high-performance, sustainable buildings.

Other renovation details:

• Construction will begin this summer, with completion in three years. The first units are to be available in mid-2011.

• The Book Building floors 4 through 13, and Book Tower floors 4 through 38, will be residences with a common area for all residents on the 33rd floor.

• The Book Building will have 14 apartment homes per floor and the Tower will have four per floor. All residences beginning on the 16th floor of the tower will have unobstructed city views.

• Rents will range from $800 to $2,100 a month.

• The third-floor glass atrium will be restored, as will the three-story lobby.

[LMich]

Not a done deal, but the 3rd District Circuit Court is looking to move into the old MGM Grand complex, downtown. It's currently split between a few locations including the city hall, on Griswold, on Ste. Antoine, and East Forest. Up until a few months ago, this was to become home to an animation studio, which has sense decided to look for other space in downtown:

Old MGM complex mulled for Wayne Co. Circuit Court site

BY KATHLEEN GRAY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

January 22, 2010

Former gaming rooms could be turned into courtrooms at the former MGM Grand Casino complex in downtown Detroit.

The closed casino is among seven buildings under consideration for a consolidation of Wayne County Circuit Court space.

Other buildings under consideration are: the old State of Michigan building along the Lodge Service Drive; 1001 Woodward, a vacant building that also was looked at and rejected by the county before it bought the Guardian Building, and the Chase Building on Woodward.

...

In one version of a tentative agreement being negotiated between the county and courts, the county would be required to purchase the MGM complex by the end of March.

...

The agreement, which names the MGM Grand as a location for the courts, said moving the courts into the MGM building would save the county about $3 million a year. Chief Circuit Court Judge Virgil Smith could not be reached for comment.

...

The Wayne County Commission would have to approve whatever decision is made by the Ficano administration and the circuit court. Commissioners knew nothing of any deal involving the MGM Grand complex, which has been vacant since MGM opened its new casino and hotel in 2007.

"I'm afraid it's going to be one of those things where they come to us at the last minute and tell us 'We already did this, and we need your approval now,' " said commission chairman Ed Boike, D-Taylor.

[AvatarMike]

Its a shame they never built the High Rise Courthouse adjacent to the City-County Building, that would have been a permanent spot for it. Still is nice though that the city will use a vacant site usefully, even if it was from the casino

[au5233]

such a shame to see the LaFayette building torn down. Such beautiful, historical buildings and architecture being demolished...for what, to create space? Like there isn't already an abundance of available land in detroit, not to mention little development in the city. Yet burned-down buildings continue to remain standing, and buildings with the potential to be renovated are lost. Look at Tiger Stadium -- torn down to create an empty lot in the middle of nowhere?!? I'm really starting to lose faith in this city FAST!

[LMich]

More Quicken news:

Quicken founder wants to bring 2,400 downtown

BY TOM WALSH
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

March 2, 2010

Quicken Loans would like to move another 500 to 700 employees to downtown Detroit from Livonia within the next year, in addition to the initial group of 1,700 coming to the Compuware building in May or June, Dan Gilbert, Quicken's chairman and founder, said in an interview Monday.

"We're very excited about it. We can't wait to get down there," Gilbert said.

Gilbert also said the online mortgage firm more than doubled its loan volume to $25 billion in 2009, from $12 billion a year earlier.

Quicken announced in November 2007 that it would build a new Detroit headquarters, but switched gears a year later when the nation's banking crisis hit, opting to first lease four floors in Compuware's building and delay construction of a new headquarters building until 2013.

Now Quicken is looking to lease more space and move more people downtown as it gains market share, thanks in part to a wave of bank and mortgage company failures nationwide.

Gilbert, who is majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, also ruminated on the possibility of a joint arena for hockey and basketball in Detroit.

...

[LMich]

Not sure how this will ultimately turn out given the prices, but the site did deserve a rebuilding. That it's right along a freeway gives me more hope about it's chances:

New rental units built as part of Gardenview Estates. It's touted as an infusion of affordable housing, transforming the southeast corner of Joy Road and the Southfield Freeway. (WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press)

Detroit mixed-use development includes incentives to buy

BY GRETA GUEST
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

March 7, 2010

By summer, the first single-family homes will start going in at the former site of Detroit's Herman Gardens public housing project, the result of more than a decade of planning. And the green homes starting at $140,000 are expected to bring new life to an area rich in history, and more recently, heavy foreclosures.

Gardenview Estates is the 139-acre, mixed-use and mixed-income development at the southeast corner of Joy Road and the Southfield Freeway. It features rental units, senior citizen co-ops and single-family homes. Seven acres have been set aside for stores.

Three developers who have worked together on various urban projects for the past 10 years -- William Phillips, Dwight Belyue and William Richardson -- plan to build 231 green homes on the site.

The development was honored last month as the Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan's development of the year.

"What we are trying to do is attract people from outside the city," said Phillips, vice president of Windham Development. "There is just a strong likelihood this will sell out quickly. I don't know how deep the market is; I just know there is a market."

...

The project carries a number of buying incentives, including a home buyer down-payment assistance program that offers up to $60,000 through City of Detroit Home Funds and a 12-year tax abatement through the Neighborhood Enterprise Zone designation.

...

[LMich]

Another story on Gardenview; this one about the first residents moving in. Townhouses are now complete, the single-family homes are now going in:

Detroit housing complex boosts community spirit

Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News

March 29, 2010

Detroit -- The first residents to move into Garden View Estates say the $228 million housing complex is rebuilding a sense of community where a troubled housing project once stood.

About 100 rental units have been built in the complex, and 231 single-family homes are slated for this summer on the 139-acre site at Joy and Southfield, site of the former Herman Gardens housing project. A senior co-op also is planned.

"There were times we thought it would not happen," said Ruth Williams, who lived in Herman Gardens and has moved into an apartment at the new project. "But I said with every breath I take, this will be built."

The project is to be completed in 2013.

...

Garden View will boast about 1,000 units when completed. Herman Gardens had more than 1,400.

...

The neighborhood around Garden View Estates has numerous vacant and boarded-up houses.But that did not affect Audrey Spires' decision to move into the development. The 48-year-old said she liked the design.

"They look like they are really trying to make it nice," she said.

I really posted this because the development has a surprisingly detailed website, now (http://www.gardenviewdetroit.com/), and they've included a final site plan. The shadowed-out area is the completed Phase I townhomes:

According to the site, of the single family hoems, 103 of them will be on 45-foot-wide lots which can be seen on the periphery, and 128 homes with be on 60-foot-wide lots near the middle of the development, however, all setbacks will be the same.

[Frequency]

I wonder if they will ever find enough people to fill all those homes...

Sounds like we could eventually have something bigger than a neighborhood development to talk about:

Detroit land deals spark speculation
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News
A series of high-priced land acquisitions in a forlorn stretch of Detroit's lower Midtown area is fueling speculation a major development project could be in the works.

Eighteen parcels, mostly blighted and empty, have been quietly bought or optioned since September 2008 in the area just north of the Fox Theatre and close to Woodward Avenue. These properties are near four empty blocks of Woodward Avenue owned by the city. The area of activity is bordered by Woodward and Cass avenues from east to west and Temple and Sibley streets from north to south.

In at least two cases, the sellers have been asked to sign confidentiality agreements not to divulge the identity of the buyers.

New stadium for the Red Wings (and Pistons?) maybe? That's probably the most likely option, but who knows. Maybe somebody else has something big planned for the area.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by LMich

Another story on Gardenview; this one about the first residents moving in. Townhouses are now complete, the single-family homes are now going in:



I really posted this because the development has a surprisingly detailed website, now (http://www.gardenviewdetroit.com/), and they've included a final site plan. The shadowed-out area is the completed Phase I townhomes:



According to the site, of the single family hoems, 103 of them will be on 45-foot-wide lots which can be seen on the periphery, and 128 homes with be on 60-foot-wide lots near the middle of the development, however, all setbacks will be the same.

i hate how urban developers always have to break up the street grid and create these "creative" designs. it looks really tacky and cuts off the neighborhood from its surroundings. its happened in Chicago many times, one of the most unfortunate being Dearborn Park in the South Loop, just south of the CBD. When it was built the area was left for dead. Today, its an isolated, walled off subdivision surrounded by the busy city. Unfortunately, you cant just demo and fix the problem

[Crawford]

To me, Gardenview is makes less sense than anything planned in metro Detroit right now. I hope I'm missing something and eat my words.

The quoted prices are higher than those of grand 1920's tudors in Detroit's best neighborhoods, and the area surrounding Gardenview Estates is crap.

So why would someone buy a small suburban crapbox in Gardenview Estates, and have project dwellers as neighbors, when, for the same price, one could buy a huge tudor with stained glass windows and crown moldings in the University District?